1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to methods and systems for providing temporary digital ink on electronic media. In particular, the present invention relates to fading digital ink.
2. Description of Related Art
The growth of the World Wide Web and the proliferation of computer networks have enabled people in dispersed locations to share resources. But mechanisms enabling effective communication about these resources, particularly mechanisms for discussion of visual content, have lagged far behind the mechanisms for access. Visual information is important to communication about a variety of resources, from plain text documents to complex graphics. In particular, support for gestures analogous to hand gestures in face-to-face communication within collaborative applications have remained primitive.
Telepointers are the most commonly provided tool for communicating about visual information within collaborative spaces, such as desktop conferencing systems and shared editing tools. Use of telepointers does not result in an accumulation of clutter within the workspace. However, telepointers provides only limited communication bandwidth.
Many collaborative applications also provide digital ink with which the collaborators can make marks in the shared space or on artifacts, such as shared documents, within the application. Each collaborator can see the marks made by every other collaborator. Drawing with digital ink can be used to communicate effectively, especially about visual content, within a virtual space. The users of the collaborative application can use the ink as an effective means of communication.
For example, Akins (U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,555) teaches a conventional system that enables freehand drawing data drawn on one computer, to be sent to other computers over a network. Schwartz (U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,872) discusses a conventional system which allows multiple participants to watch and issue commands to a shared application program, and to make annotations on the computer screen that are seen by all other participants. Carleton (U.S. Pat. No. 5,781,727) teaches a conventional system that allows users of computers to find markings previously made by the user on a shared document.
Similarly, Martin (U.S. Pat. No. 5,790,818) discusses a conventional method for highlighting areas of a shared screen.
In a co-pending, co-assigned application, Docket No. 110014, entitled “Systems and Methods For Automatic Emphasis Of Freeform Annotations” incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, a method for distinguishing high-value versus low-value annotations based on the type of ink marks made is described.
However, in collaborative applications, these expressive marks and/or gestures can quickly overwhelm the collaborative space with clutter since both marks and/or gestures needed permanently and marks and/or gestures needed temporarily remain in the collaborative space. In addition, erasing marks and/or gestures does not come naturally. As a result, the collaborative space becomes cluttered with marks and/or gestures. These clutter problems increase as ink is used for frequent referent gestures as well as for other marks.
Genau (“Translusent History”, CHI Companion 95, ACM, Denver, Co, 1995, pp. 250-251) discusses a conventional system which provides users with the ability to fade the current contents of their workspace. A new translucent workspace through which the faded version of the previous workspace is visible is then provided. In the system suggested by Genau, an architect might view a previous version of an architectural workspace faded dimly below the current modified version of the workspace. Multiple workspaces, each workspace increasingly faded based on increasing age are also suggested.
However, in Genau, the decision to fade marks is made after the drawing has been done. Also in Genau, the fading is of an entire workspace so it is impossible to independently fade overlapping marks on the same workspace. Thus, Genau cannot be used for referent gestures to marks occuring on the same level. Moreover, in Genau, fading is in discrete steps, with each discrete step directed by the user.
In Hayne's conventional system called GroupSketch, an inactive cursor ‘dissolves’ away to reduce visual clutter. However, Hayne does not teach or use a temporary digital ink and no fading of the temporary digital ink occurs.